Rifle with supporting attachment for offhand shooting



March 1, 1960 R. ISTAM 2,926,448

RIFLE WITH SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFHAND SHOOTING Filed March 20, 1959 United States Patent RIFLE WITH SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FOR OFFHAND SHOOTING Richard Stam, East Rochester, NY. Application March 20, 1959, Serial No. 800,837 6 Claims. (c1. 42-71 This invention relatesto an attachment which may beto rest the arm of the hand used to steady the piece,-

against the body or on the hip, to thereby enable the piece to be held much more steady while being fired. I

Among the primary objects and advantages of the attachment are to provide a devicewhich will afford a balanced three point support; which can be adjusted to be comfortably utilized by shooters with either *long or. short arms and fingers; which will to a considerable extent obviate certain physical handicaps Which' pIace certain shooters at a disadvantage when firing from a standing position; which will enable the shooter to be relaxed when firing from an offhand position, so that the piece can be held steady to thus eliminate the need for snap shooting;

which is so constructed that it can be used on substantially all types of rifles, and which may be mounted on a rifle without marring, altering or defacing the rifle stock.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more'fully apparent from 'the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of a rifle showing the supporting attachment applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the attachment, as illustrated in Figure 1, but shown removed from the rifle;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the attachment;

Figure 4 is an exploded side elevational view, partly in vertical section thereof;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to Figure 3 but'illustrating certain of the parts of the attachment in an alternate position, and

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of the attachment, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 66 of Figure 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the rifle supporting attachment in its entirety and comprising the invention, as illustrated in Figures 2 to 5, is designated generally 8 and includes an angular bar 9 having a short vertical leg 10 and a long horizontal leg 11. The'leg 10 depends from a rear end of the leg 11 and is disposed at approximately a right angle thereto. The leg'10, near its upper end, is provided with transversely spaced openings 12 for loosely receiving the threaded shanks of two screws 13 which extend outwardly or rearwardly therethrough. The screws 13 are adapted to straddle the forward portion of the trigger guard 14 of a conventional rifle 15 and to engage threaded openings 16 of a clamping bar 17, which is disposed across the inner side of said forward portion of the trigger guard 14. Thus, by tightening the screws 13 for clamping said'forward trigger guard portion between the bar 17 and the upper orno of the leg 10, said leg is secured rigidly to the outer side of the forward end of .the trigger guard 14. This con stitutes the sole connection of the supportingattachment 8 tothe rifle 15. With the bar 9 thus secured to the trigger guard 14, as illustrated in Figure l, the longer leg 11 of said bar extends forwardly from the depending leg 10 along the underside of the rifle stock 18, against which the leg 11 can bear. 1 a

The leg 10, near its lower end andmidway of its side edges, is provided with a threaded opening 19, and said leg has a narrow tongue 20 which is struck from the inner sie thereof and which is disposed directly above and i adjacent the opening l9. An angular 'bar 21 includesa substantially flat horizontal end portion 22 fortninga? vthumbrest and an upstanding leg 23 which; extends upwardly at approximately a right angle from afo'rward end of the thumb rest 22 and which is disposed against the forward side of the leg 10, below' the screw fastenings 13. Said leg 23 has a longitudinallyforvertically extending slot 24, as best seen in Figure 6-, in a portion of which the tongue 20 slidably engages. A headed screw 25 extends loosely through the slot 24 and is threaded into the opening 19 for clam'ping'the leg 23in selected adjusted positions longitudinally of the leg 10 for posi-f tioning the thumb rest 22 at a desired level below theleg' 10. Thetongue 20 prevents turningof the leg 23relative to the leg 10 to maintain the thumb rest 22 in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the leg 10 and' thus normally in a horizontal position.

A threaded stud 26 is secured in and extends downwardly from the leg 11, approximately midway of the ends thereof. portion of an elongated slot 27 of a bar 28 whichjisdis posed against the underside of the lef 11 and longitudinally thereof. A wingnut 29 engages the screw 26 and is adapted to be tightened for clamping the bar-28 immovably to theleg 11, in different extended. positionsof'.

said barrelat'ive'to the'leg. As seen in'Figures l to 4, the bar 28 has a downwardly turned back. end 30 the terminal part 31 of which is disposed beneath and substantially parallel to the slotted portion of the bar 28, and has a threaded opening 32, as seen in Figure 4.

A fiat plate 33, forming a finger rest, has a threaded stud 34 fixed to and extending upwardly from approximately the center thereof and which is threaded upwardly through the opening 32 for adjustably mounting the finger rest 33 below the part 31. A'washer 35, lock washer 36 and a wingnut 37 are mounted on the stud 34 above the part 31, with the washer 35 bearing on the part 31 and the lock washer 36 disposed between the washer 35 V securing said forward end of the leg 11 to the underside of the rifle stock 18, if desired. However, the-opening 39 is not ordinarily used, to avoid marring the stock 18 and since the attachment 8 can be securely mounted by the screws 13 and clamping bar'17. The rear portion of the leg 11 is provided with an elongated slot 40 to afford clearance for the magazine or loading platform on bolt v action type rifles.

The thumb rest 22 and finger rest- 33 are adjusted to correct elevations to suit the shooter and are clamped,

as previously described, in the desired adjusted positions. Assuming that the rifle is being used by a right handed shooter, the ball of the thumb F, of the left hand, bears against the underside of the thumb rest 22 and the finger a Patented Mar. 1,1960;

The stud 26 extends loosely through arest 33 rests upon the balls of the fingers 'T, as illustrated in Figure 1. With the left hand thus disposed, the upper portion of the left arm, not shown, can be disposed tight against the side of the body for bracing the left forearm and hand and so that the rifle 15 can be heldIJsteadyin a standing or offhand firing position.

If the rifle 15 is not magazine fed and if the shooter prefers, the attachment 8 may be adjusted to the position as shown in Figure 5 by loosening the nut 29 for rotating the bar 28 to position the finger rest 33 in close proximity to the thumb rest 22. In this position of the attachment 8, the rest 22 may bear upon the heel of the palm of the left hand, for a right handed shooter, and the rest 33 may bear upon the forward part of the palm and the fingers, so that the left elbow can be rested on the hip to enable the rifle 15 to be readily held steady while firing from the standing or offhand position. Furthermore, when the attachment 8 is in its position of Figure 5 it will offer no interference to gripping the forearm, 1 8, forwardly of said attachment, for firing from the prone, sitting or kneeling position.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and .may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A rifle comprising a forearm, a trigger guard, and asupporting attachment for use in firing the rifle from the standing or offhand position, said attachment comprising, an angular bar including a forward legdisposed against the underside of the rifle forearm and a depend ing rear leg disposed against the forward end of the rifle trigger guard, means detachably securing said depending rear leg of the bar to the trigger guard, a thumb rest having an upturned extension, means adjustably securing said extension to said depending rear leg of the bar for supporting the thumb rest at different levels below said rear bar leg and substantially parallel to said forward bar leg, a second bar having an elongated substantially flat upper portion and a lower portion disposed beneath and spaced from said upper portion, means adjustably securing said upper portion of the second bar to said forward bar leg, a substantially flat finger rest, and means adjustably connecting said finger rest to said lower portion of the second bar for supporting the finger rest at different levels--therebeneath and substantially parallel to the thumb rest.

2. A rifle supporting attachment as in claim 1, wherein said means connecting said second bar to the forward bar leg provides for adjustment of the second bar relative to the first mentioned barufor varying the spacing between the thumb rest and finger rest. H

3. A rifle comprising a forearm, a trigger guard, and a supporting attachment for firing the rifle from the offhand or standing position, said attachment comprising a first bar and-a second bar,' clampingmeans securing a part of the first bar immovably to a part of the rifle trigger guard and for positioning another part of said first bar against the underside of the rifle forearm, a thumb rest, means connecting said thumb rest to a part of said first bar for positioning the thumb rest beneath the'trigge'r rguard, a finger re'st, and means connectin'g said finger rest to apart of the second -bar for supporting the finger rest in front of the thumb rest.

4. A rifle supporting attachment as in claim 3, means adjustably connecting said second bar to the first bar for extending and retracting the second ba'rrelative to the first bar for varying the spacingbetween the thumb rest and finger rest. v

5. A rifle supporting attachment as in'claim 3, wherein the means for connecting'the thumb rest and the means for connecting. thefinger rest to the first bar and the second bar, respectively, are individually adjustablefor varying the elevation.of the-thumb .rest and finger rest" relative to each other and tosaid bars. I

6. A rifle supporting attachment as in claim 3, means connectingsaid second bar to .the first bar for extending and retracting the second bar relative to the'first,

No references cited. 

